President Obama publicly thanked Pope Francis for helping facilitate the beginning of normalised relations between the US and Cuba.
The president’s comments came, Thursday, on a nationally televised address.
Obama said Pope Francis wrote to both Cuban president Raul Castro and himself urging them to find a way to resolve Cuba’s imprisonment of US citizen Alan Gross.
“His Holiness Pope Francis issued a personal appeal to me and to Cuban President Raul Castro urging us to resolve Alan’s case,” Obama said.
Later in the address, Obama thanked Francis for his example.
“In particular,” Obama said, “I want to thank His Holiness Pope Francis, whose moral example shows us we should work for the world as it should be instead of accepting it as it is.”
Pope Francis offered his congratulations to the two governments.
A statement from the Vatican Secretariat of State confirmed, in recent months, the Holy Father had written to both leaders during them to “resolve humanitarian questions of common interest”.
In October, the Holy See also met with delegations from both countries in the Vatican, providing “its good offices to facilitate a constructive dialogue”.
The communique says the Holy See will continue to offer support for initiatives on the path of both countries to strengthen bilateral relations and promote the wellbeing of their respective citizens.
Sources
- Vatican Radio
- NCR
- Image: America Economia
